Letters from the President

Octopus vulgaris | Photo credit: TheSp4N1SH

Aug 17, 2021 Animal Sentience, Public Awareness, and Public Policy

Posted at 11:52h In Animal Sentience, Animal Well-being, Animals, Articles, Ethics, Regulation, Law, Letter from the President, Public Awareness/Attitudes, WellBeing News - By Andrew Rowan, DPhil

Over the past fifty years, public concern for animals (and “animal sentience”) has prompted significant changes in public policy in many countries worldwide. It is not yet clear what has driven this concern. There had been a similar increase in public concern for animals in...

Boys with a river buffalo in Asia. | Photo credit: Poring Studio

Jun 28, 2021 Children Witnessing Violence Against Animals

Posted at 13:53h In Animal Well-being, Animals, Articles, Human Well-being, Letter from the President, WellBeing News - By Andrew Rowan, DPhil

At the 87th Session of the UN Committee of the Rights of the Child held at the end of May 2021, Tunisia’s programs to address child protection were examined. The printed report of the session, issued on June 7, 2021, was fifty-five paragraphs long and...

May 28, 2021 Cosmetic Testing on Animals: EU Takes a Step Back

Posted at 10:23h In Animal Well-being, Animals, Articles, Laboratory Animals, Letter from the President, Well-being, WellBeing News - By Andrew Rowan, DPhil

The European Union (EU) was the first major economic and political union to address cosmetics testing on animals. This legislative initiative took decades to come into effect. The path started in 1993 when the first EU Directive addressing the issue was passed. However, the Directive...

Mar 30, 2021 Rhino Decline Shock

Posted at 13:56h In Animals, Articles, Letter from the President, WellBeing News, Wild Animals - By Andrew Rowan, DPhil

The Kruger National Park in South Africa is home to the largest wild rhino population in the world. But a 2019 census documenting a dramatic decline in the Kruger rhino population in just ten years has shocked rhino conservation organizations. The park last conducted a...

Feb 26, 2021 “Making Peace with Nature”

Posted at 08:57h In Articles, Environment Well-being, Land Management, Letter from the President, Sustainability/Biodiversity, WellBeing News - By Andrew Rowan, DPhil

This past month, the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) issued a 168-page publication entitled Making Peace with Nature. The UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, comments in a Foreword that “Humanity is waging war on nature” and “Making peace with nature is the defining task of the...

Pharmacology. Development and production of medicines. The flasks with colored substances and packaging of tablets. Pharmaceutical company. New drugs for the treatment of diseases.

Jan 29, 2021 Drug Company Research and Animal Use

Posted at 11:27h In Articles, Ethics, Regulation, Law, Laboratory Animals, Letter from the President, WellBeing News - By Andrew Rowan, DPhil

Over the years, the use of laboratory animals by drug companies and other commercial laboratories has elicited more than its share of criticism. In the late 1970s, animal advocates turned their attention to the testing of cosmetics and personal care products on animals, with particular...

Dec 29, 2020 WBI’s Core Principles and 2020 Review

Posted at 10:02h In Articles, Letter from the President, WellBeing International, WellBeing News - By Andrew Rowan, DPhil

As the end of the calendar year approaches, it seems an appropriate time to revisit the core principles that underpin WellBeing International’s (WBI) initiatives during its first two years. These concepts include the original foundational idea of the importance of the interconnectedness of people, animals...

Dec 07, 2020 Ending Dog Homelessness Across the World

Posted at 09:05h In Animal Well-being, Articles, Companion Animals, Companion Animals, Letter from the President, WellBeing News - By Andrew Rowan, DPhil

There are many organizations, municipalities and individuals around the world dedicating time, resources and much attention and love to the well-being of dogs and ending dog homelessness. Often, these projects do not have sufficient resources to reach the number of dogs to have measurable impact...

Wind turbines and solar panels as alternative renewable energy.

Nov 02, 2020 Predicting the Future – or Managing for the Future?

Posted at 14:02h In Articles, Environment Well-being, Letter from the President, Population, Resources, Sustainability/Biodiversity, WellBeing News - By Andrew Rowan, DPhil

A relatively recent saying, attributed to many different people, is that “prediction is very difficult, especially if it’s about the future.” In contrast, Peter Drucker, the global management guru, is quoted as saying that “the best way to predict the future is to create it.” ...

Sep 30, 2020 WellBeing International Studies Repository – Providing Access to Useful Data and Important Studies

Posted at 13:56h In Animal Well-being, Articles, Education, Environment Well-being, Human Well-being, Letter from the President, One Health, WBI Studies Respository, WellBeing News - By Andrew Rowan, DPhil

In 2020, there were reportedly over 5 billion unique mobile phone users worldwide (two-thirds of the world’s total population). Of these, 2.9 billion are using smartphones. These numbers translate to the growing availability of an extraordinary global marketplace for ideas and influence. Every smartphone user...